Did former state Sen. Efrain Gonzalez charges of mail fraud somehow relfective of this unethical practice?
Whether it's an overpriced bagel, a private cigar company, or lining the pockets of a lobbyist, corruption is the order of the day in local politics.
The
former senator, Efraín
González Jr., once one of the longest-serving Democrats in the State
Senate, was indicted in 2006 on charges that he had routed state grants known
as “member items” to nonprofit groups in the Bronx, including one that he
founded, and then used some of the money for personal expenses. Mr. González
was defeated for re-election last fall by Pedro
Espada Jr.
Mr.
González’s indictment was part of a flurry of public corruption cases in Albany
linked to the member-item system, which allows lawmakers to dole out tens of
millions of dollars a year to favored community groups, until recently with
little oversight.
One
former state assemblyman, Brian M. McLaughlin, also a Democrat, pleaded guilty
last year to charges that he skimmed money from a Queens community group to
which he had directed grants over the years. He is awaiting sentencing. In
January, Joseph
L. Bruno, the former Republican leader in the State Senate, was
indicted on charges that he took millions of dollars from companies seeking
business from the state, part of a long-running federal investigation
originally rooted in state grants he steered to a technology firm in his
district. Mr. Bruno is fighting the charges.
On
Friday, Mr. González pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud and two counts
of conspiracy connected to the personal expenses, which also included financing
a private cigar company, membership fees in a vacation club in the Dominican
Republic and college tuition for his daughter.
Five
other charges against him in the indictment — including money laundering, fraud
and the abuse of his office — were dropped by prosecutors, meaning that he is
likely to face a significantly shorter sentence than he may otherwise have.
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